Emmanuel Nwabufo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Richard Boadu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jeffrey Gyan is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
Looking aheadAshanti Gold take on the side everybody is chasing
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ashanti Gold and Hasaacas in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.09, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Boardroom24 Nov 2031
Nobody left the Ashanti Gold dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑6, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Thomas Agyepong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Richard Boadu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Daniel Mensah on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Isaac Hemans is on it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Heart of Lions. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Richard Boadu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
0‑3 against Berekum Chelsea, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Emmanuel Nwabufo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard Boadu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout27 Oct 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Daniel Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ashanti Gold and Aduana Stars, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Boadu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑5 defeat, delivered by Daniel Mensah to a room that had heard them before.
Beaten 5 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Musawenkosi Madonsela and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Successful dribbles: 62. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Ashanti Gold scored in the 95th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Thomas Agyepong and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 Sep 2031
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Boadu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
0‑5 to Medeama, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Beaten 5 times, 4 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
0‑4 to Bechem United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Boadu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.07 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Emmanuel Nwabufo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 goals in one match, Selasie Bakai on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ashanti Gold and WAFA.
11 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
That is the business done at Ashanti Gold until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Ashanti Gold asked and Hearts of Oak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian Partey and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Thomas Agyepong is on it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Ashanti Gold would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ashanti Gold. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Ashanti Gold spent the window trying to move Edmund Bukari on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Selasie Bakai is on it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ashanti Gold have done the hard part with Hearts of Oak, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
In brief
The dugoutIsaac Hemans has become a man the manager trusts
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
$260.0K settles it between the clubs for Pedel Madaki
Medeama have accepted the money. What Ashanti Gold do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ashanti Gold asked and Medeama said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
$170.0K was the most the club would pay and Berekum Chelsea were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Hearts of Oak have accepted the money. What Ashanti Gold do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ashanti Gold, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
BoardroomThe Ashanti Gold production line keeps running
The mood at Ashanti Gold has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Medeama have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Moses Ali has written the date down.
Polo Nartey has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Daniel Mensah has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Ashanti Gold and Hasaacas have settled on $52.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Liberty Professionals have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Samuel Boateng is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Ashanti Gold, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ashanti Gold had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Heart of Lions, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ashanti Gold asked and Hearts of Oak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
$100.0K settles it between the clubs for Amadu Abdulai
Inter Allies have accepted the money. What Ashanti Gold do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hearts of Oak have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Heart of Lions: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ashanti Gold have done the hard part with Aduana Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
$170.0K was the most the club would pay and Berekum Chelsea were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Felix Mulyungi and Ashanti Gold agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ashanti Gold have done the hard part with Inter Allies, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Selasie Bakai has written the date down.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ashanti Gold have made the call to Bechem United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ashanti Gold. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Ashanti Gold says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Emmanuel Nwabufo is on it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Thomas Agyepong is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Selasie Bakai is on it.
In brief
BoardroomThe Ashanti Gold production line keeps running
The mood at Ashanti Gold has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mamudo Moro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ashanti Gold told Joshua Agyemang something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Samuel Boateng has moved up it.
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces31 Mar 2031
Supporters organise against the Ashanti Gold board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 13 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom31 Mar 2031
Nobody left the Ashanti Gold dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Mensah after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Ashanti Gold pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
6 goals in one match, Selasie Bakai on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ashanti Gold and Hearts of Oak.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Mar 2031
Selasie Bakai was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Edmund Kyereh did not need any: 8.16, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It needed Edmund Kyereh to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Liberty Professionals, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for Ashanti Gold
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 16 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Liberty Professionals next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Daniel Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The mood at Ashanti Gold has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout3 Mar 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Daniel Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom24 Feb 2031
Nobody left the Ashanti Gold dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑5 Daniel Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hearts of Oak have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Thomas Agyepong is on it.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Jonathan Gyan, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Ashanti Gold would like this to lead.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bechem United have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Supporters organise against the Ashanti Gold board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Ashanti Gold and BA All Stars have settled on $230.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal that would have taken Israel Oladeji to Great Olympics has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Ashanti Gold with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thomas Agyepong and Ashanti Gold agree another 2 years.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter Allies have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Heart of Lions is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Berekum Chelsea have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutIsaac Hemans has become a man the manager trusts
Ashanti Gold and Bechem United have settled on $26.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Israel Oladeji again, and this time the name on the line is Bechem United. Ashanti Gold are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ashanti Gold asked and Hearts of Oak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
New Edubiase United next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
The dugout20 Jan 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Daniel Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
Ashanti Gold have made the call to Heart of Lions. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Edmund Kyereh did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ashanti Gold and Inter Allies have settled on $100.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bechem United have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
0‑5 to Medeama, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
1‑1 against Hasaacas, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces6 Jan 2031
The mood at Ashanti Gold has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Position 16, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Player ratings30 Dec 2030
Jonathan Gyan, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.77
A mark of 7.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Words at Ashanti Gold training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edmund Bukari is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Edmund Bukari has his answer from Ashanti Gold; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The quietest bad news in football. At 20 nothing has moved for months — not backwards, which would at least be a conversation, simply nowhere. Somebody at the club will have to decide whether that is the club's fault or his.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Bukari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 15, 8 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Two goals and a mark of 8.64 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Ashanti Gold and Hearts of Oak, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 15 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
A point taken on 94 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Edmund Kyereh is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It needed Manuel Mantey to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Hasaacas, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Daniel Mensah chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Joshua Agyemang is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ashanti Gold, and both men came out saying it was fine.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.26 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It needed Thomas Agyepong to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Great Olympics, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Daniel Mensah chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
Looking aheadAshanti Gold take on the side everybody is chasing
The dugoutMamudo Moro asks for a word with the manager
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Minute 88, against Heart of Lions, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Position 15 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
1‑2 to Wa All Stars, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
Selasie Bakai was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Joshua Agyemang is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1‑4 against Aduana Stars, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samuel Boateng and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Daniel Mensah to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ashanti Gold, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 81 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. New Edubiase United kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Ashanti Gold will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
A brace, and Manuel Mantey takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Manuel Mantey provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.61 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Selasie Bakai and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years.
It needed Manuel Mantey to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against New Edubiase United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ashanti Gold has been clear about where Joshua Agyemang stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 88 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Felix Mulyungi provided it, and the 9.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.81 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Manuel Mantey and Ashanti Gold agree another 4 years.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
15 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
BA All Stars next, and one man in the Ashanti Gold dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ashanti Gold lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Ashanti Gold had all but put away. Medeama will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Daniel Mensah after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ashanti Gold lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moses Ali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 17 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The words a physio says slowly. 116 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hearts of Oak have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 123 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ashanti Gold can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Ashanti Gold until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Everything agreed with Heart of Lions, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Boardroom2 Sep 2030
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Ashanti Gold
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The offer from WAFA for Thomas Kwabena Osae was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal with Hearts of Oak is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Ashanti Gold offered $64.0K; Inter Allies said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jonathan Gyan and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“He needs to be playing at a level that matches him, and we are open to conversations.” Nobody says that by accident, and nobody at Ashanti Gold misheard it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moses Ali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with Asante Kotoko, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ashanti Gold have gone to Inter Allies with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mpho Maila is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Moses Ali has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The name of Thomas Kwabena Osae has come up in conversations Ashanti Gold were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Kwabena Osae will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ashanti Gold had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Heart of Lions, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 34 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Everything agreed with Heart of Lions, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jonathan Gyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
$74.0K on the table at Inter Allies. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The name of Israel Oladeji has come up in conversations Ashanti Gold were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Eric Ofori-Antwi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The offer from WAFA for Thomas Kwabena Osae was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ashanti Gold have done the hard part with Liberty Professionals, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ashanti Gold offered $74.0K; Inter Allies said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ronald Mbambo is on it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ashanti Gold people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moses Ali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer went to Inter Allies this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hearts of Oak have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Selasie Bakai and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years.
Ashanti Gold have made the call to Liberty Professionals. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Inter Allies waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
$110.0K settles it between the clubs for Isaac Baba
Great Olympics have accepted the money. What Ashanti Gold do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Eric Ofori-Antwi and Ashanti Gold agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asante Kotoko have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Berekum Chelsea have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Israel Oladeji. The answer from Ashanti Gold has not changed — yet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thomas Agyepong and Ashanti Gold agree another 2 years.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The offer went to Inter Allies this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The offer went to Bechem United this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A new face in his position, and Emmanuel Nwabufo suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Ashanti Gold have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The offer from New Edubiase United for Thomas Kwabena Osae was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ashanti Gold offered $74.0K; Inter Allies said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Baba Partey is 18, and Ashanti Gold have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Ashanti Gold will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Liberty Professionals, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ashanti Gold have gone to Inter Allies with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Israel Oladeji is on it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Inter Allies; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Everything agreed with Great Olympics, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Felix Mulyungi and Ashanti Gold agree another 2 years.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and New Edubiase United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything was agreed with Bechem United and then the doctor spoke. Ashanti Gold have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ashanti Gold has been clear about where Samuel Boateng stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Molemo Seemela and Ashanti Gold agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Hearts of Oak have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ashanti Gold has been clear about where Molemo Seemela stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Selasie Bakai is on it.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Elvis Manu’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Polo Nartey
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Kwabena Osae will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Mantey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Ashanti Gold would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Kwabena Osae will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Manuel Mantey falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ashanti Gold know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutEdmund Bukari knocks on the manager’s door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Ashanti Gold has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Nobody at Ashanti Gold will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 25 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Manuel Mantey falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Daniel Mensah to a room that had heard them before.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Mantey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
Player ratingsManuel Mantey beats them one at a time
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Kwabena Osae will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Ashanti Gold pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
It needed Moses Ali to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Liberty Professionals, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ashanti Gold they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Mantey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ashanti Gold.
The dugout4 Mar 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Daniel Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Edmund Bukari
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Ashanti Gold pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Daniel Mensah to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Bernard Boakye is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jonathan Afful has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrew Boateng has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andre Addo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Kwabena Osae will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ashanti Gold the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Osman Baba is 18, and Ashanti Gold have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ashanti Gold is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything agreed with El-Kanemi Warriors, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Aduana Stars moved on, Israel Oladeji reports back to Ashanti Gold, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Thomas Agyepong was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ashanti Gold will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
1‑4 to Aduana Stars, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Richard Boadu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Plateau United have kept their man, and Ashanti Gold go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ashanti Gold will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Ashanti Gold will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The deal with Liberty Professionals is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Richard Boadu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
0‑1 to New Edubiase United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Jan 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Daniel Mensah left the room before anybody could ask which.
Something was said to Manuel Mantey and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ashanti Gold have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with Heart of Lions is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The name of Israel Oladeji has come up in conversations Ashanti Gold were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Inter Allies will replay every second of the added time for a week.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Wa All Stars had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ashanti Gold have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ashanti Gold this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ashanti Gold asked and Ikorodu City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Selasie Bakai. 1‑0 against Inter Allies, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.